Selling for photographers: 4 steps to close a sale
Image by: @arnelhasanovic
There is always a lot of energy placed into attracting clients. Our website, SEO, our portfolio. But what happens when they’ve entered your universe and in that precarious place of being close to being booked? It’s a hard spot for many photographers who worry that something they say or do may sour the sale. Or that their pricing will get them ghosted.
Closing the sale is an art form. You want to apply a bit of pressure to get things booked, but not too much to seem aggressive. You don’t want to appear desperate. Your nerves may be getting the best of you. What’s the best way forward?
4 steps for clinching a photography booking
Visualize the sale and use booking language
From the very first notification of a client inquiry in your inbox, assume that this is a booked and paid client. We’re often told to visualize our goals and imagine ourselves with those goals already fulfilled, as a powerful method for success. We understand the power of our mind because negative messages can cause us to compromise ourselves and our dreams. It could be just as powerful if it worked to our advantage then, right? Instead of panicking that you must now try to convince someone to book with you, assume confidently that this is already a sale, and the next steps are just a formality. This boosts your confidence, which transfers as influential energy into the client.
When you’re able to treat it as already a sure thing, the pressure eases and it becomes about leading the person through the booking to get that person closer to having the thing they want - beautiful photos.
How do you do this? First, address your mindset. If you need to, read posts in the ShineSparkL Mindset pillar to help with strategies to neutralize the negative messaging and to amplify the positive messaging. After that, use booking language.
Use when instead of if. “When we meet for the session, I can show you the album samples I have”
Use possessive instead of neutral terms: “Your proofing gallery will be available two weeks after your session”
Use strong versus weak terminology and phrasing: “Once we’re booked, I will help you select the perfect location for the session”
2. Have confident control
In any client interaction, you are the expert in your business and the client is learning the territory. So it’s important for you to set the tone of how things go and to make sure they understand that you can take care of everything they need. That means listening to their needs and being able to respond with knowledge and assurance of what will best fit their needs.
Your website is the face of your business 24 HOURS A DAY, 365 DAYS A YEAR. It puts in more time than you ever will into your business. And because it puts in the time, it frees you to put time into other areas. You couldn’t even pay someone to be that dedicated! It is one of the most VALUABLE tools in your marketing toolkit.
Is it doing its job? It is up to you to make your website engaging, sparkling, and CONVERTING. Make it the best it can be, so it can be the workhorse for those leads.
When it comes to fielding follow up questions, I’m always a big advocate of writing things down so that you’re never caught off guard. Will you ever offer a savings for a certain group of people (military, teachers etc), do you offer custom packages, do you take payment plans? Make sure you are ready with these answers so that you can confidently navigate the sale. Keep in mind that it’s ok to say no as well, so being pre-prepared with the answer helps you do it kindly. When you’re caught off guard and fumble a response, clients can feel this energy shift and can start having doubts about your capability or professionalism.
Follow this same guidance when it comes to objections. Write down how you might respond to comments like “your prices are too high,” or “we don’t need print products, can you take them out of the package for a lower price?”
When evaluating these and other questions posed by prospective clients, dig deep for why you would respond in a certain way to ensure it makes sense to you and that it’s rooted in good business practice and in the values of your business and brand (and not in something like fear). This helps you to fully believe in your answer. If you’ve created a policy based on what you saw another photographer do but didn’t examine why or if it makes sense for you, it can foster that same doubt in a client when you can’t quite explain why you have this stance.
The elements above naturally turn into policies and FAQ’s. FAQ’s can be published on your site or can be sent privately in a guide or via a link to a hidden page on your website. Policies can be privately referred to when fielding inquiries. If you encounter a new situation, assess and then add it to your policies or FAQ’s, to build a library of responses that form the foundation of your business.
When you know your business inside and out and are confident in why you have created things the way you have, people feel that they are being advised and guided by someone who knows their stuff and that authority factor makes it much easier to get people to a yes.
3. Present pricing like a pro
Now comes the hardest part for most. It’s all fine and good to talk about what you love - photography, and how you can do this for the client. But when it comes time to talk dollars, we want to run and hide. You have to think of it this way: when someone wants something, money needs to be exchanged. Even in bartering, there is an exchange, but in lieu of money you negotiate a deal based on the monetary value of the service or product. You know what? That’s still money in disguise!
If you assume you already have a sale, then you assume the client is ready and willing to pay for what they receive in that sale. At this time, state the price and then stop. Keep the same confident tone as when you delivered their photography options. That is truly the secret to managing this money part. Don’t rattle on at this time, trying to keep selling them or adding unnecessary detail. We do this because we’re uncomfortable but you have to think of the client and not you. Selling was done in steps 1 and 2. When people arrive at the price questions, they need and want clarity and conciseness - how much for the things that we’ve discussed?
Have you ever wanted something and ready to buy but the salesperson keeps pitching? In your mind no more selling is needed but now you’re getting annoyed that they don’t just lead you to the counter to pay. This is very off-putting because they aren’t reading your signals and they are overcompensating for whatever messsaging/ mindset is in their own head.
There is a concept called pride of purchase. It’s followed by pride of ownership. Imagine that you have been saving for years to buy your dream car. When you sign that contract, you are flying high! It’s happening! When you drive that car off the lot with the sunroof open, happiness surges through you. Every morning you look out the window and see your dream car parked in your driveway and it makes you smile. If you were ready to buy that car and the car salesman kept droning on about all the car options, you would be impatient that he’s not understanding that you are ready to buy. All he actually has to do is accept that you’re ready to pay, and guide you to where they’ll draw up the contract. In the money conversation you must absolutely quell the negative voice in your head that you have keep talking and convincing. Recognize that this means you’re trying to sell yourself and not the client and shut this down! Your brand and interactions to that point should have already done the job. Out of respect and consideration of your client, present price calmly and clearly, and give them the gift of space to now think about and make their decision. Allow them to say a graceful no if it’s not a fit, or for them to experience the pride of purchase.
4. Ask for the sale
This one feels odd. Isn’t this already a sales process with one of two results: a yes or a no? As counterintuitive as it seems, this not obvious but direct strategy can be very successful. It’s a natural ending to the three previous steps. Since you’ve already assumed the sale (so there is no no), have kept the prospective client on track by answering all of their questions and advising of their best option, and given them a price for what they seek, they have all they need to act. “When can we get you on the schedule?”
Linking the other pillars
All of the steps above go through the filter of your body - body language, voice tone. Even if not in person, people can sense your body energy. A great tip would be to do a power pose just before interacting with a client. Find Amy Cuddy’s famous Power Pose TED Talk here.
In this situation, it may be very hard to turn off those voices telling you that you can’t do this. This isn’t the time to work on mindset but to treat it like a child and tell it what to do. Tell it to shush, while you’re busy clinching your photography sale. When you state price and you are tempted to run on about other things, stop yourself cold.
The entire process of selling is rooted in your brand energy because it’s the guiding energy of your business. Pay attention to maintaining that tone. If your brand is happy and relaxed, then an anxious tone breaks the client experience. Anchor yourself in your brand energy at all times.
Any business process should always keep an open door to your intuition. For example as you present your offers and pricing, pay attention to the soft and subconscious things playing out. Is the client with you and asking questions and sharing excitement or are they pulling away with one-word answers? Sometimes we will recognize when the sale won’t happen, and ending things gracefully there is a blessing for everyone.
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